Wooden Bystander

NSW, Australia. I looked up the specifics of the law and apparently there is an exemption for carrying them to and from hobbies in need of knives. I guess it could be argued that one would potentially require one when searching for caches in the bush, at least.

Actually, there aren't any single star caches nearby. I would have to drive a significant distance to reach one. But whatever, if people would somehow find it useful then so be it. I just have to find some time to try again.

Methinks that if I were to log DNFs I would be skewing the cache's average, making it look harder than it really is. At the moment I'm just not finding any because I'm inexperienced. Surely it's acceptable to hold off on DNFs until you've started to gain your bearings?

Unless the law has changed back again without me noticing, we're not allowed to carry knives in public places without a reasonable excuse. It was probably an attempt to heighten the inaccuracy of Crocodile Dundee. I wonder if Geocaching counts as a reasonable excuse.

Thanks for the detailed response. I've been operating on the assumption that if it gives the accuracy as 8m then I'm probably within around 8m of where it says I am.

It was once mentioned at the Fool's Errand website. I was interested at the time, but it was quite a while before I started mobilising myself to become involved. I still haven't become properly involved, but soon the time will come.

I have only had a few attempts so far, all unsuccessful. I didn't log any of them. I think I'll log DNFs when I've learnt how to actually find some.

If the unit gives an estimate of its own inaccuracy at each particular moment, is that estimate also unreliable?

Did they give a reason for hating it so much?

Bck when the rumours first started getting passed around I leaned towards the side that claimed it was a myth. It's always nice to think that you have disentangled yourself from hysteria. Then I started seeing signs in petrol stations warning against the use of mobile phones, and so I felt it was best to believe it. Looks like I'm back in the "myth" camp. This time it's even better because I have disentangled myself from a hysteria which has manifested itself in official signs.

[response in wrong thread, sorry]

We are often warned to keep mobile phones switched off within petrol stations. Failure to comply can apparently have explosive consequences. I have not been up to date with electronics since I persuaded a lightning bolt to hit a kite with a key attached, but it seems to me that a GPS receiver would probably be just as dangerous around combustible vapours. Is this so? I have searched on Google a little bit, but it's hard to find a place with the specific information I'm looking for (most of the hits talk about how you can use software to help you find petrol stations.)

After much deliberation, I have finally settled on the purchase of a Geko 201. It lacks many of the features that I wanted, but is the cheap with adequate functionality. As I hold this investment in my hands, watching it lose lock on the satellites due to the roof over my head, I want to express my gratitude for everyone who has helped me on this difficult journey. It is difficult to make a satisfactory decision while uninformed, especially when the decision involves the frittering of multiple hundreds of dollars. It is therefore comforting to know that there are people willing to assist with information. These people, and I am of course referring to you, do not provide this assistance with the hope of monetary reward. They simply help for the glory of it. This is comendable. It can be with some accuracy be predicted that if the world's population consisted entirely of the people who offer their services on this message board, it would be an extremely small population for such a large space. But it would also be a population devoid of difficulties, for there would be no lack of assistance for the troubled. For each person there would be another person available willing to offer help. It would be a small community in a vast space propping itself up by sheer power of goodwill. I think of this world and my heart fills with joy, though it sickens my soul to be aware of its impossibility. So I invite you all to lift up a mirror or prop one against a wall if all of your mirrors are oversized. Look into this mirror, and see a being of pure beauty. A being willing to give simply because it is the kind thing to do. See this beauty and grin in satisfaction for a few moments before boxing your egos back in their properly restrained quarters. I do not doubt your humility, but it is best not too tempt pride overlong. Nevertheless, this brief indulgence is the reward I offer you for the deed of answering my various queries in recent times. Finally, it is said by some that there is no greater joy than that of helping another. I would therefore like to also thank you all for the opportunity to provide this opportunity for others to drink of this joy. In short, your assistance is appreciated.

Yah okay. Thanks for your input sock puppet. You're welcome.

Thanks.

Humbug. Gratitude should be taken for granted. Having someone repeat what you already know just wastes your time.

As someone who recently did this, let me enlighten you. The person who asked the question can not provide any further input to the conversation unless there are further things that require clarification. To simply say "thankyou" is polite in normal conversation, but on a message board it just wastes everybody else's time. Few people want to open up a thread just to find that the only new message is "thanks everybody." edit: In my particular case, I also wanted to see the discussion play out to its full extent before deciding whether I had a worthwhile comment to make.

Reluctant to be a spendthrift, I've been carefully shopping around for an appropriate GPS unit. It seems that the Geko 201 might be sufficient, and I want things to be affordable as possible. However, I've read that the etrex has greater problems under thick foliage than most GPSrs because of its smaller size necessitating a smaller antenna. Since the Geko is smaller still, I imagine it would have greater trouble still. Is the difference between smaller and larger antennas under thick foliage significant? I'm aware that all units will have difficulties in such circumstances, but naturally I want to avoid making the problem much worse than it needs to be. I don't want to end up spending half the Geko's value on a re-radiating external antenna with a portable power source when I could have used that extra money for a better unit. edit: Note that I live in Australia where we don't have access to such things as WAAS. If this needs to be taken into consideration, feel free to do so.

Dang, when I saw the picture I was hoping that you were looking for advice for putting live animals in caches. I can just imagine someone opening one up and having an emaciated duckling leap out and tear him to shreds in a frenzy to find food.

For what reason did you decide to return the Meridian Gold?

I am an Australian interested in taking part in Geocaching. Naturally I need to obtain an affordable GPS first, and various cheap Etrex models seem to be the most common recommendation. These seem to be available for reasonable prices on ebay, so for the most part it appears to be the best choice. My problem however is that the basemap on these things seem to generally refer to regions on the American continent. Such a map is useless to me. I know a basemap is unnecessary, but I would prefer to have my purchase be slightly more useful than simply letting me know my place in the world, even if it is something many people spend their entire lives wondering about. I would have an easier time psychologically justifying the expenditure if I can use the GPS for other things in addition to Geocaching, and a feel a map will expand the usefulness adequately. So would it be possible to transfer a basemap of my local area onto a low-range GPS such as an Etrex, or does such functionality add an extra couple of hundred dollars onto the price? I suspect it's the latter, so are there any cheaper models that come with a basemap relevant to Australians? Thankyou.